Day 24 – Wrist exercises begin

July 14, 2013

It’s a little more than a week after the cast was removed and I do notice some improvements, especially on the pain. The stitches in my skin are hurting far less than they did week ago. My fingers are not as achy as they were. However my thumb is still very swollen and that makes removing the brace and putting it back on slightly painful. However I do notice it getting better today. I actually started my wrist exercises yesterday and performed them five times along with my finger exercises. I have to say that my wrist ached a bit but it was nothing too bad. But I’m still taking Tylenol and Advil every four hours.

My biggest concern is the swelling in my thumb and I hope that my physiotherapist will review this video and be able to let me know if this is normal progression or if there is something else I can do to help reduce that swelling. It seems like the swelling in the thumb is preventing much of my movements at the moment. The following video outlines my finger exercises with the additional wrist exercises. If you’re bored of the finger exercises just fast-forward or slide the bar to the last one third of the video to see how my wrist exercises are doing.

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I appreciate the effort that you are going through to document your journey. I had my PRC done 1 July. Finding your blog gives me a little bit of a glimpse into the future in regards to what to expect. My PRC was the result of a ligament coming off my scaphoid and the scaphpoid being partially dead. I had the option of a 4 corner fusion, but chose the PRC. From first wrist discomfort to PRC was 4 months. I’m still trying to get my mind wrapped around this whole thing. I’m still in a cast, but that will come off tomorrow. I’m a little anxious about getting the cast off and trying to move my wrist. Unlike yourself, I was able to move my fingers within hours of the surgery with only very slight discomfort in the knuckles and finger joints. Pain in my wrist has been virtually non-existant so far. I took pain pills for a couple days, but after that any discomfort was not worth taking a pill for. Good luck to you and I look forward to reading your blog to see what my future might hold.

Hi,
did they freeze your arm with a nerve block? I think part of my problem was that the cast was too tight and perhaps my arm was extra frozen because they did have problems freezing it. Apparently my nerves were unusual and when they said I was ready to go I could still move my last two fingers on my hand. They went back and froze some more under my armpits. I don’t know if that’s the reason or not. Additionally, my lunate bone was cracked and was in a few pieces. My wrist was very swollen and sore at the time of the operation.

I am now one week and a bit since the cast was removed and I’m moving my fingers much better however my thumb is still tight. My wrist movement seems to go inwards towards the inside of my wrist but will not move in the opposite direction yet. I see my doctor again and the physiotherapist on July 30.

I did not have any kind of nerve block. Once I got into the operating room they injected something into the IV and I remember getting strapped down on the table and then the next thing I vaguely remember is explaining to a nurse how tough I was after the surgery was over. They did not put me into a cast right away. The first week I had a splint/wrap combination. Nothing I could take off. But it was not really tight. A week after the surgery they put my wrist in a cast. For me, they removed the bones through a 2-3 inch opening on the back side of my wrist. No cut was made on the palm side of my wrist. It sounds like your wrist was in worse shape at the time of the operation compared to mine. I could move my wrist ok (with some pain), but if I tried to put a load on it that was not in line with my forearm it could hurt a lot. I’m hoping that because I had the surgery rather quickly compared to when the discomfort started, that will somehow work in my favor in the long run. I’m right handed and had the operation on my left wrist, by the way.

Thank you for the update and please do continue to send me any positive or negative updates with your progress. I have two small incisions which seems to be a newer approach to doing the PRC. Apparently one of the bones comes out easier when they go in through the area below to thumb. Yes I was not able to move my wrist before the operation because of the crack lunate and the swelling. However I do think that the cast was too tight which has slowed down my finger recovery. I chose to have the surgery done in Toronto which is 300 miles away from my home. I stayed in Toronto for two days to make sure that all was well before I went home. I did call in question some of the pain but they did explained that I had three bones removed from my wrist and it may be painful. I think if I was closer I would have gone in to have it examined and perhaps they would have put me in a new cast less tight. But I’m out of my cast now and I am not wearing the splint during the day while I’m at home. My fingers are progressing ever so slowly to my liking since I’d want to be driving my 300 GTV Vespa, but that is not happening.

I’m glad for you that your fingers are not an issue and that you can focus simply on your wrist. Are you in Canada or the USA?